Lord BRUCE of DONINGTONasked Her Majesty's Government:
1137WAWhether they will state, for each of the years 1970 to 1979 inclusive, the charge on public funds in respect of the activities of the Bank of England in servicing the National Debt together, for each year, the total number of employees of the Bank of England engaged on this task.
§ The MINISTER of STATE, TREASURY (Lord Cockfield)The information, which is only readily available for financial years, is as follows:—
Prior to the 1st March 1971 the Bank was paid on the basis of a scale of fees which resulted in under-recovery of the full costs involved. From 1971–72 onwards, following the report on the Bank by the Select Committee on Nationalised Industries in 1969–70, the Bank has been reimbursed with the full costs of the work Involved.
Charge to Public Funds (£millions) Numbers of Staff 1969–70 1.9 1,135 1970–71 1.8 1,075 1971–72 8.0 1,085 1972–73 7.4 1,075 1973–74 8.4 1,040 1974–75 10.9 1,075 1975–76 17.5 1,105 1976–77 16.8 1,015 1977–78 17.3 935 1978–79 17.8 935 1979–80 (estimated) 18.9 960